Kerala shuts windows, schools to use only Linux

[NucleusKore]

An do not give me that 'Govt has no money and they want to cut cost' thing. What the fcuk do they charge so many taxes for! And not to mention that there is a 0.24% education cess on service tax as well.

[size=+5]I do not pay taxes to fill Microsoft's coffers.[/size]

Yes, there own developers. Not someone like Joe Coder.

And what these developers do is still open source in their products isn't it? It's not like they are doing something in secret away from the community's scrutiny.

Yup, they charge for support. Isn't that what MS also does???? So why MS is evil but not red hat

Because Microsoft does not just charge for support, Microsoft charges for the software, that's the whole point here, don't cloud the issue. Is Microsoft saying take windows free and pay us only if you want support? You simply cannot compare the business model of RedHat and Microsoft.

Show me the website plz, or r u converting $ to Rs.

I am not converting $ to Rs.
[size=+1]Office Home and Student Edition is not Rs. 7500 any more, but Rs. 5000/- isn't CHEAP![/size]
*www.buyoriginalms.com/office2007homestudentedition.aspx

 

[Kiran.dks]

A good move indeed. Linux needs more tutorials than Windows. It also helps schools in not to invest on paid OS when free OS is available. Students can learn Windows in less than 3 months at a Computer education center if required.

 

[praka123]

when someone new to computer is introduced to Linux or windows-the time difference is not much different.contrary to beliefs,New Linux user will be more comfortable after a few hours.

its really taking the toll when moving a windows user to Linux that is time consuming(3 weeks for a hardcore win fanboy? )

 

[fun2sh]

I will say its a fair move by the gov as it wil sav a lot of money!!!
But i think both OSes should co-exist but i m sure a new person to computer will find linux 1000X difficult than WINDOWS!!

 

[NucleusKore]

I will say its a fair move by the gov as it wil sav a lot of money!!!
But i think both OSes should co-exist but i m sure a new person to computer will find linux 1000X difficult than WINDOWS!!

And I'm all for co-existence if Microsoft gives windows away to schools free of cost. No point of wasting public money on Microsoft products.

If Microsoft wants students to get acquainted with Office or any of their other products that may be given to schools too. NO PAYING.

 

[kumarmohit]

I do not pay taxes to fill Microsoft's coffers.

And you do it to fill the pockets of looting politicos.

MS-Windows = Rs. ____?
Antivirus = Rs. _____?
MS Office = Rs _____?
etc etc = Rs _____?
All debated and discussed! I wud really like u to tell me if we shud really ignore this money matter thing, even if the school has say 50 computers. How many schools does the state have? Please calculate it all, show ur report and then say "do not give me that 'Govt has no money and they want to cut cost' thing".

As told earlier, there is no need to purchase new licenses, they already have enuf licenses. And for Antivirus, they can use any number of free antivirus solutions out there. Umm, one was included in this month's Digit, What was it Moon or something.

U didn't understand the topic I guess. Its not FOSS which is bringing a "monopoly", but a decision by a state! When did FOSS come in between??

In Windows cases, it MS imposing iots monopoly, in this case, it is govt. You know who is the ultimate loser in all this, it is the Freedom of Choice.

U can rip apart ur OS, crack it, pirate it, or install OSS or use the traditional registers,pen and paper. Its ur decision!!

Do you really expect the teacher to teach kernel level programming at school!

I am saying again that for me Freedom of choice is more important than the concept of Free software.

 

[gary4gar]

i m sure a new person to computer will find linux 1000X difficult than WINDOWS!!

Totally Wrong!
My Younger cousin who never used a PC learned Linux faster than me as he didn't have any previous computing experience . His Fav application is Tuxpaint.

On the other hand i had lot of troubles Using Linux, as i was too used to windows.

Its like from starting we are taught in decimal number systems so we find other number system. I bet if someone have been taught hex from start he would find decimal difficult.

Preston Gralla is the author of Windows Vista in a Nutshell, the Windows Vista Pocket Reference, and is the editor of WindowsDevCenter.com. He is also the author of Internet Annoyances, PC Pest Control, Windows XP Power Hound, and Windows XP Hacks, Second Edition, and co-author of Windows XP Cookbook. He has written more than 30 other books.

He Writes & I quote "I've been a Windows die-hard for more years than I want to remember, having used the operating system since even before the prehistoric days of Windows 3.1.

So when my 14-year-old son Gabe came home from his first summer job (where he's learning the open source joys of Python, PHP, and MySQL), extolling the virtues of Linux, I was skeptical. Old habits, and old operating systems, die hard."

• "On the desktop, Linux may be more stable than Windows"
  
• "One thing going for desktop Linux is its price and the price of applications like the OpenOffice.org suite -- you can't argue with free."

A Last Point that proves that he is a fan boy

'm a long-time shareware fan, and there's far more useful and easily available shareware available for Windows than Linux.

*www.oreilly.com/pub/wlg/5211

If a Fan boy can find Linux 1% usefully then its really usefully
So for every Die hard windows user is would be hard to switch but for the new users its easy Job.

 

[praka123]

It is human to resist to changes,even if it is better to.(same with windows boys to Linux!)

 

[ilugd]

Just one point that needs to be cleared. It is not like a ban on windows or something. I don't think that is the sense of the thing. Sometimes, to get things moving, strict policy has to be set. In this linux adoption thingy, unless such a clear guideline is given, no school would have done it. Let me explain.
Freedom will not be affected in the long time. Like I remember reading once, freedom sometimes has to be enforced, when people do not know what freedom is. Let me give you an example, say in a school, students usually have teachers who do not allow them to speak, but just give lectures. There comes along a new teacher who wants the students to participate in the classes interactively. Obviously the students don't speak up. They are too conditioned to be quiet. The teacher then makes a rule that each students HAS to speak on one topic daily. That is called enforcing freedom of speech. Once the students understand that it is ok, that rule is no longer needed. This decision by the Kerala government needs to be taken in that sense.
And as far as taxes are concerned, it is the government should go for the best option at the most minimum cost involved. Corruption does not enter the equation. That is a whole different topic. And about license in schools, that is a laugh. Most of the schools don't even know that Windows is to be bought. 99% of teachers don't know that. Maybe some students do. Most Indian schools are like that. I don't think kerala is much better.

 

[gary4gar]

Just one point that needs to be cleared. It is not like a ban on windows or something. I don't think that is the sense of the thing. Sometimes, to get things moving, strict policy has to be set. In this linux adoption thingy, unless such a clear guideline is given, no school would have done it. Let me explain.
Freedom will not be affected in the long time. Like I remember reading once, freedom sometimes has to be enforced, when people do not know what freedom is. Let me give you an example, say in a school, students usually have teachers who do not allow them to speak, but just give lectures. There comes along a new teacher who wants the students to participate in the classes interactively. Obviously the students don't speak up. They are too conditioned to be quiet. The teacher then makes a rule that each students HAS to speak on one topic daily. That is called enforcing freedom of speech. Once the students understand that it is ok, that rule is no longer needed. This decision by the Kerala government needs to be taken in that sense.
And as far as taxes are concerned, it is the government should go for the best option at the most minimum cost involved. Corruption does not enter the equation. That is a whole different topic. And about license in schools, that is a laugh. Most of the schools don't even know that Windows is to be bought. 99% of teachers don't know that. Maybe some students do. Most Indian schools are like that. I don't think kerala is much better.

+1

 

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Can you all please try to make the distinction between "NEWS" and "FIGHT CLUB"??

This is News, no point arguing about it, coz it is something already decided upon or done and nothing you say or do is going to change it now. That is what is called "NEWS". It's something that is already over!

The bottom line is.. the news is the real deal, it's done.. so shutup now **

**pun for broadminded, attack for fanboys

If you want to fight about something, open a new thread in the fight club or something and fight there, this is the technology section, so stop crapping it.

@Winboys, where were you guys when only windows were running on school computers? how different was it? where was your argument about choice then? so stop this crap about choice when you didn't care about it in the first place!! seriously!

Rest all, the choice is still open, but as far as schools are concerned, the move has already been made which will save your and my money! For most of the people on the forum here, who are just young and don't pay taxes will simply not understand the meaning of this. For those of you like me who work and pay more than Rs15,000/- in tax every year, you bet! it's a dam hell of a serious matter for us as to where government decides to spend our money!! So, for those of you who thrive by getting paid windows software of your parents money or some part time work which you did and don't pay tax, this is simply not going to make sense to you!

No one is stopping anybody from using whatever OS they want in their life, only that the government has decided it will teach something that makes economical and statistical sense. You want to learn something a private company makes, then go spend your private money and learn it yourself, I am simply not going to let the government pay you with my money for you to learn something that a monopolistic private company wants you to learn, go make your own money and learn that $h1t!

I do not pay taxes to fill Microsoft's coffers.

 

[NucleusKore]

^+1@ilugd

And you do it to fill the pockets of looting politicos.

That anyway happens, it's not like the added burden of Microsoft licenses will make corruption vanish!

As told earlier, there is no need to purchase new licenses, they already have enuf licenses.

How do you know?

And for Antivirus, they can use any number of free antivirus solutions out there. Umm, one was included in this month's Digit, What was it Moon or something.

If free anivirus was so good I do not think paid would have had a chance. Do you trust your Windows with a free antivirus? I don't.

In Windows cases, it MS imposing iots monopoly, in this case, it is govt. You know who is the ultimate loser in all this, it is the Freedom of Choice.

In this case I'm with the government.

Do you really expect the teacher to teach kernel level programming at school!

I don't, and neither is the FSF movement or FOSS movement asking for that! Whatever made you think of kernel programming in school. Let them learn to use Linux just like they use windows, to enjoy computers and use it as a productivity tool

 

[praka123]

I hope TN,karnadaka too follow this! (AFAIK TN moved many of their offices to Linux and FOSS ?)

@cyrus:what u said is 100% right!I never thought like -our money paid as tax is used to teach kids a private monopolistic M$'s proprietary OS!
like ppl learning Maya or blender in "private" institutions,Winblow$ also should be teached somewhere outside gov schools

 

[NucleusKore]

Can you all please try to make the distinction between "NEWS" and "FIGHT CLUB"??

This is News, no point arguing about it, coz it is something already decided upon or done and nothing you say or do is going to change it now. That is what is called "NEWS". It's something that is already over!

If you want to fight about something, open a new thread in the fight club or something and fight there, this is the technology section, so stop crapping it.

The fight would not have started if it wasn't for this post no. 3

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82156#3

*img166.imageshack.us/img166/6759/chm5pdf1wb1.th.png

 

[ilugd]

LOL. Point taken.
/me shuts up.

 

[kumarmohit]

In case people start getting me wrong I am not against Linux being taught, I am for teaching them both and allowing them to choose when they are capable of making the choice.

That anyway happens, it's not like the added burden of Microsoft licenses will make corruption vanish!

I think that money going to MS is still better where devs slog instead of going to politicos.

How do you know?

They have enuf licenses to allow them to teach both Linux and Windows. Considering that Linux would be sharing the burden. The figures are public, for more info, please file and RTI.

If free anivirus was so good I do not think paid would have had a chance. Do you trust your Windows with a free antivirus? I don't.

For a change, I do! I am using Win XP with AVG free, I also run DSL in a virtual machine. I have never been let down. And the Moon anti virus is open source as well.

In this case I'm with the government.

Then I am sorry to say but you never truly understood the reason that drives FOSS.

 

[kalpik]

Can you all please try to make the distinction between "NEWS" and "FIGHT CLUB"??

This is News, no point arguing about it, coz it is something already decided upon or done and nothing you say or do is going to change it now. That is what is called "NEWS". It's something that is already over!



If you want to fight about something, open a new thread in the fight club or something and fight there, this is the technology section, so stop crapping it.

+1

They should open "Windows" else the classrooms will get very suffocated with penguins & there sh!t all over.

Please don't post in a thread if you cannot add to the discussion in a civilized and well behaved manner.